The tale of "The Fir-Tree"

- Poetic life pessimism



One of Hans Christian Andersen's beautiful, but simultaneously pessimistic life adventure, "The Fir-Tree" (1845), represents a kind of 'biography' of a tree's life story.
During his childhood in the forest were the tree often been overlooked, even the hare offered it no attention, but sprang not care about it as easy as nothing. But as we know, saw the tree his greatest joy on Christmas Eve, as it had been felled and was beautifully decorated and all the lit candles on its branches gave glare in both children's and adults' eyes. The tree had therefore afterwards find it difficult to understand that when it had been for so much joy that it would end in a dark corner in the attic, where the interim could be allowed to lie and wither. The tree had been here only company of the little mice, who would rather hear about things that could be eaten, but as yet there was a comfort and encouragement, because they do not blame the tree its discontent with his destiny. But after the tree’s view, the mice did nothing of the whole. However, one day there should be cleared up at the attic, and the Christmas tree was taken down and used as firewood under the laundry room cobber. All that survived of the once-shiny decorated tree was twinkling Christmas star from the tree top, but in a way and at least had come to the new honor and dignity, namely as ornaments on a small happy boy's proud chest when he played soldier and paraded around the courtyard with his playmates. (1)


As probably as familiar, so ends Andersen’s tale of the life-pessimism that shines out of Ecclesiastes, whose wisdom and moral is that everything may well be obliged by law, but also fleeting and transitory, or short, that everything is over, yes, even the story of "The Fir-Tree" will one day pass and as everything else be crushed away in the grind mill of oblivion. But in his next fairytale: "The Snow Queen" from the same year, one of Andersen's leading fairytales, because the mood and the conclusion is quite different, yes, indeed totally opposite, for herein, the word "eternity" is a watchword in life puzzle, a word, which more accurately means "immortal soul", so everything ends up in joy and merriment and a belief that the Bible's words that "Except ye become as little children, ye shall not be in the kingdom of God!"
(2)

 

Andersen's "pendulum-mind"

In both cases, both in "The Fir-Tree" and "The Snow Queen", is it beyond the literal Act of Andersen himself, more specifically about his own psyche. As noted earlier and discussed here on the website, he had so to speak, a "pendulum-mind" which almost manic-depressive swung between life optimism and life pessimism. He had optimism right up to the dizzying heights, and a pessimistic way down into the deepest dark nightly background. He was not in the sense of manic-depressive, but suffered only during periods of severe mood swings, usually caused by external circumstances not always shaped it as he could wish for. Yet his life optimism prevailed After all, so that he as late as the year before his death in August 1875, could end up one of his very latest, written poems, "The old man" (1874) with the following promising words:


The force that subordinates' every planets cource 

at the word "Stay!"

The Providence, from which emanated love,

have eternal life.

- The soul that God in his image have created

is imperishable can not be lost;

Our terrestrial life here is eternal seed,

Our body 'dies but the soul can not die! (3)


But Andersen's optimistic view of the human personality or soul's existence after the physical body's death, was still challenged by his occasional uncertainty, scepticism and doubt, to his mind again swung into a life-pessimism, which among others was reflected in the poem "Heavy Hours. "This poem he wrote a few months before and during the illness, which led to his death. He died probably of liver cancer and was 70 years and 5 months. The poem reads in all its sadness and supplication to God for mercy as follows:

 

Our time now writes in his book of wisdom;
is it for good or for worse?
It's awful to be so clever
that you do not believe in Our Lord!

Oh, it was better for every one
who despise each poor gifted
to his neck hung a
millstone,
and he was basically in the ocean.

Now all the excess clever know:
God is created by human ingenuity,
and man is the "infallibility"
an element is the source of life.

Everything we aspired and lived 'and suffer,
quenched as the flame of life. 
In a bottomless nothing we sink down,
Good and evil are one and the same.

O Eternal God, stay with us! Stay!
In you and through you all is given!  
Grant to us in grace "eternal life"
and remembrance of life on Earth! (4)

 

When Andersen in the poem writes: "Grant to us in grace "eternal life"" so it is the latter probably put in quotes because "eternal life", after all, so to say can only be forever, for always and always to be and have been forever. What Andersen believes may be: Grant us in grace a belief that Our life is everlasting. But Andersen's "pendulum-mind" contented himself, despite everything, not only with life-pessimism, because shortly before writing the poem "Heavy Hours", he had written the life optimistic poem "The Miracle" that belongs to his very latest, written poems, which confirms his thinking in the last verse of the poem "The Old Man". The poem "The Miracle" sounds in all its brevity and optimism like this:


From the pyramid in the desert sand

a mummy was brought to the north country,

it was embalmed for three thousand years,

in the hieroglyphs it is written;

once a queen in Glory and splendour.

A wheat grain ears in her Hand was laid.

It planted 'now after three thousand years,

and it sprouted 'forward as soon as it was spring,

set ears and bore grain and - strengthened Our faith.

After three thousand years it could still grow!

- Such a life in a grain is loaded!

How big is then power of the human soul?

Its case into the ground lays down

but have their own lives to God's eternity.

The miracle of wheat grain you see:

You can not understand it, but look - it happens! (5)


Prior to the also previously quoted above life optimistic words about the immortal soul, was there for Andersen actually gone a lifelong spiritual struggle to convince especially himself about God's universal love and the soul's immortality. The affirmative opinion of which he certainly did not just happen, as he time and again had to fight against both his own and contemporary scepticism and doubt. He was born and grew up in an era of Cultural history have described as romantic, some of which arose as a reaction against the Enlightenment with its intellect and sense worship. Romanticism legalized rather the use of skills as emotion, imagination and intuition, which, among other things found inspiration in the pre-Christian Greek culture. But the more intelligent and down to earth personality, could not put up with the idealization of the spiritual values or the historical and Cultural retrospective, as Romanticism stood for, they looked more realistically at what the everyday experience of testifying, that among other things was natural causes and explanations for everything, and that certainly did not need a God as the cause explanation of life and the world. And the view that humans have an immortal soul and eternal life, it was seen at best unlikely and at worst the illusory thoughts, created on the basis of ignorance and naiveté. Natural science seemed to support and verify the naturalistic and realistic perception of life, and thus was the materialistic and atheistic spiritual desert hike begins, a journey that still today takes place in and especially the western secular culture and the modern science reductionism, which reduces spirit and soul to the products of physical-chemical forces and laws, more accurately to products of the physical brain anatomy and physiology. Psychology, or more specifically neuro-psychology, is thus reduced to a matter of brain physiology. (6)

 

Materialism and atheism

It was precisely the problems mentioned above, more or less intensely occupied Andersen of adolescence, right up to his death the 1875th Literary terms it comes to expression as early as 1825, when he wrote the poem "The Soul" which is about the soul's fate and situation of the physical body's death. The poem begins optimistically by noting that the soul is the spirit that gives life and force, even if it is possibly a light spirit, which has fallen from his sky, and now the dust band is waiting for the new wing to bring it back to its original heavenly home high among star crowd. But the poem's fifth verse contains questions about the soul perhaps by a temporary stay in a friendly star must first be purged of his earthly desires and bad habits before it could gain access to heaven. Already by this verse we see that the poem - albeit indirectly - also about what both new-platonism and Martinus' Cosmology called ‘the living being 'entanglement' in the matter - and thus of its predecessor - the world, and its later 'development' and liberation from it. But then, the poem's sixth and penultimate verse, reports the scary thought is whether the soul may just be a product of the body’s physics and chemistry, and therefore cease to exist when death occurs. The verse reads:


Or - no! ha horrid thought!  -

Spirit perished you at Our death.

Horrid horrible idea

sent from the deep-dark lap.

Oh why would you then burn

for heaven's high peace.

I wonder why the Lord turned

inkling of eternity –

live and enjoy was then O God

life's big true bid. (7)


The idea that the soul may be only an illusion, and thus imaginary product of the physical body physics and chemistry, more precisely of brain anatomy and physiology, tormented Andersen in pessimistic moments of his life, and seemed almost unbearable. It shows several of his poems, fairy tales and stories, some more overtly than others. But fairy tales part, you come into the tale of ”The Fir-Tree”, as mentioned, for the first time more consistently on the idea of ​​ transitoriness of the soul and everything else. Let us therefore in the following try to analyse this otherwise very Beautiful and touching adventures during the perspective of the four levels of interpretation.


The tale "The Fir-Tree" seen in the first level of interpretation

First, however, we just look at what the wonderful adventure "The Fir-Tree" is about. As already mentioned in the introduction, it is about a fir-tree's life and destiny. The story begins when we first meet the tree in the forest, where it stands with the other fir-trees and pine trees, and where it is so tiny that it feels undervalued and overlooked. Even hares shows the disdain that by jumping over it, which was of great annoyance to the tree. It is thought only to grow and want to be big and adult, for it might then be the only Beautiful in the world. The tree was therefore impatient and had no rest in itself, but noted however, that the wood-cutter came in autumn and harvested some of the older, main and tall trees that had branches cut away, so you could see how tall and slender they were, when they were taken away on horse-drawn wagons. But the tree was eager to know what further happened to the felled trees, and therefore asked the swallow and the stork, whether they knew anything about it.

 

Swallows did not know, but the stork, which is a migratory bird that annually draws the long road to the heat of Egypt, to winter, meant to know. It had, on his flight to the exotic country met and seen some ships with tall masts, and as these smelled of pine, it would have probably be trees from fir-tree forest that was. And immediately wanted the tree to grow big and felled for mastering one of the big ships and sail out into the wide world to see about. But sunbeams warned spruce tree about not having as big hurry, but instead rejoice in his youth and enjoy it while it was there. It neither could nor would it stubborn spruce why the wind kissed it and the dew wept tears over it with compassion.


At Christmas time, saw the tree to its mixed pleasure that some of the younger and prettiest trees were felled and taken away, but when the tree does not, in their case knew what was then the trees, said the sparrows for advice. And sparrows knew it, for they flew occasionally into the big city, where they peered into people's windows, and here they had seen the trees stand in the middle of each warm room where they were decorated with apples, gingerbread, toys and many small candles. But more sparrows had not seen. The impatient spruce thought now, that being a decorated tree in a warm room, had to be something even better than being ship's mast, so it began immediately to craving and desire, to be harvested and brought into the great city. While air and sunlight warned the tree and said: "Rejoice in thy fresh youth out into the open" so the tree prevented the longing and impatience it to understand and abide by the more experienced.

 

But when the day came as the fir-tree have looked forward to with great impatience and longing, and when it was felled, it was still sad to be parted from the place which the tree regarded as his ancestral home, from the flowers and bushes all around, and from small birds, so it was farewell and departure not as easy as the tree had imagined. The tree ended up so far to be planted in a large bucket with sand and put into a very large and spacious living room, where it was decked out with everything they had dreamed of: sweets, golden apples, walnuts and figs and - not least - the many small lights. And as the adorn of all adornment, it received an honourable gold star placed on top. It pleased and delighted, of course, all of fir wood vanity, because it felt it had become the centre of attention. But himself equal, it could hardly wait for it to be tonight, so all its lights were lit, so you really could see all its decorations.

 

And there was evening, none other than Christmas Eve, and jubilant children and happy adults gathered around the tree in common joy with it. But what was it now!? The children danced around the tree and then began to loot it for all the toys, and the adults took care of the give-aways for them, who were also hanged on the tree. It seemed the tree is not really about, and certainly does not mean that all the bright lights were turned off as they burned to the branches, they were fastened on. And while the children began to play with the toys they had received, and the adults looked at their gifts, had everyone's attention turned away from the tree, with the exception of one older Nanny who only were interested in it, hoping to find a fig or an apple, which had not yet been picked from the tree and eaten. It seemed the tree definitely not about.


But suddenly it was raided and a little miserable look of wood again receive attention, namely when the children demanded that a little fat man would tell them a story. The man sat namely beneath the tree and gathered the children around him and said he would only tell one story: either the "Humpty Dumpty who fell downstairs, and yet married a princess!" Or the "Ivede-Avede "? But the man said that both the children and the tree would be Good to hear a story, and so he chose to tell the "Humpty Dumpty". While the man read out, thought the tree that it even wanted to be like Humpty Dumpty and fall down the stairs and get a princess, and it rejoiced already the next evening because it believed that all the homage would be repeated.

 

But to the inexperienced tree’s surprise, the next morning, it was picked and dragged up in the attic, where it was placed in a dark corner. The tree did not understand what it had to do there? It was however plenty of time to think about, because it was below the rest of the winter, and therefore thought that it was carefully thought of people that because they could not plant it in the frozen ground, so they let it winter and be sheltered until spring. However, there was dark and lonely in the attic, and it seemed the tree after all, was not nice. But to its surprise, got it one day visited by two little mice, who slipped in between the branches and sniffed at it, but it was not in itself eatable. They therefore began instead to talk to the tree, and asked where it came from? Whether it perhaps came from the pantry, where there are so many things that are eatable for mice. But the tree did of course not know nothing, so instead told his life story to date, which the little mice think was interesting and thought that the tree had to be very happy.


The next night came the little mice to visit the tree again, this time in the company of several other little mice, who also wanted to hear the tree tell. And while it said it came to think of Humpty Dumpty, whose history it is believed that it might even be able to get to experience and therefore end up with a princess. The fir-tree thought of a the tree in the shape of a small, neatly birch that stood out in the forest where the fir-tree itself had grown up. And when the tree mentioned Humpty Dumpty would the little mice like to hear the story. That Night came yet more mice, and on Sunday even two rats, all wanted to hear the story, but after hearing it, the rats seemed that it was a bad story because it was not about bacon and tallow candles and what who else was in the storeroom, then a real pantry history. Then the little mice suddenly think like the rats and left like this the warm corner where the tree once again stood alone. Now was also the joy gone, but the tree reminded himself that it really would understand to look forward in time, when it now was soon retrieved from the darkness and into light again.

 

The day came when one morning the tree was dragged down the stairs from the attic and was thrown out in the yard, which adjoined a garden where all the plants and lime trees were in blossom and swallows flew spring giddy about. We were all fir-tree, which is now thought that his life would begin anew, and therefore stretched and stretched it out its branches, but that now to his grief all the branches were withered and yellow. The tree collapsed again and was aware that it lay in a corner among weeds and nettles, and realised that it had been discarded. But the sun shone, despite all the glittering gold star, who still sat in the tree’s withered top. Among children who were playing in the yard, was also a small boy who had an eye on the gold star, and he to fetch it, he stomped on the tree’s withered branches that crunched beneath his boots. While the tree was thinking of his youth in the woods and on the festive Christmas Eve and the little mice in the attic, which had welcomed the story of Humpty Dumpty. It was now all over, the tree was no Humpty Dumpty, who got his princess, and better were it not as the servant came and chopped the tree into pieces and burned it on fire during the copper. The tree's life, ambitions, hopes and dreams were over, it burned to ashes, and while the boys were playing merrily in the yard, and the little boy who had taken the gold star, and had fastened it on the heart’s space on his coat. The star, who had been the fir-tree's pride, the tree whose life story was now over, the tree was over and the story of "past, past, and it becomes all the stories!" (8)


The tale of "The Fir-Tree" seen in the second level of interpretation

Andersen's overarching idea or moral in and with the story of "The Fir-Tree" is quite simply that one should live in the moment and enjoy while the time is, and not always look eagerly forward and ask for other experiences than the ones currently experiencing or desire to be a different place than where you actually are. For with such an attitude to life, you risk to overlook and miss the experiences that lie in the moment. The Now, which of course is essential for the future, may be present, or it could be days or the current situation you are in, but perhaps more or less ignored and therefore do not experience fully, because you are constantly busy of wishes and hopes for the future. The opposite attitude or mind set of what Andersen eventually learned was unwise, he had even been back to his childhood when he heard and read about famous men's lives and deeds, and he wanted to be like when he was growing up. Therefore, his youth also constantly looking ahead and want to be something more than what he actually was. He was virtually permanently dissatisfied with his at all times current situation. Already in the last of his first three years in Copenhagen, he dreamed of becoming a great poet, which he showed up by publishing his first book, "Youth Studies" (1822), which he published under the pseudonym "William Christian Walter" where the first name stood for William Shakespeare, another name for Hans Christian Andersen, and the third and last name of Walter Scott. The book was not successful, either artistically or sales perspective, so also in this context, he experienced disappointment and dissatisfaction. Nevertheless the book is interesting because it is Andersen's first published book.


While Andersen in the years 1822-26 was school student in Slagelse and Elsinore in 1826-27, he continued to dream of becoming a great poet, which he is not otherwise concealed to his surroundings. At that time he corresponded extensively with, among other well-meaning his motherly friend, Mrs. Henriette Wulff, who was then living with her husband and her three teenage children at Naval Cadet Academy in the Brockdorff Palace at Amalienborg. The then 39-year-old Mrs. Wulff felt that school student Hans Christian Andersen was a little too verbose and flighty in his ambitions, which she not concealed, even to himself. It shows, for example by one of her letters to him - he was good 18 years - dated "Naval Cadet Academy on  November 15, 1823”, to be reproduced here in its entirety, but with modern spelling:

 

Good Andersen! They be right, thanks for your two last letters and the heartfelt concern you express, that we are either sick or I would be angry with you. No, good Christian Andersen! Their diligence and attention to yourself by whatever you are doing, you must be the guarantie that your friends who know young people can not be angry at you. They fail because it is ignorance, and such errors, we have probably all been guilty of, about and of different nature, and when should the elderly do not be angry at us, but correct us. Thus, good Christian Andersen, I wanted to write you a whole dissertation on a small mistake, you are very prone to, and as you may suffocate because it works and works harmful to your physical. - It is always for you, good Christian Andersen, as if you were born for something great. The greatest thing a man can be born to, is: to become the state and himself a useful and upright citizen - he will be in what position in life he than will. They think good Christian Andersen, to be born to a great poet - no, it's not you, and at least you may imagine it yourself. You are by nature given good sense, but they are so neglected in your childhood that when age was in which your mind and talent had the opportunity to be seen by people outside your circle, and they found that it was heavy, a good who were you given, was away win without effect, and therefore praised you and did something to you - when did you, good Christian Andersen, I will not say too much, but a too tense idea about your own abilities - not with account of what you can learn, for there is your ability really great, and here comes your commendable diligence - but in terms of your imagination and talent for the higher poetry. Their poetry is monotonous, your imagination repeats itself; They go up into the higher, it will be - forgive a mother, because as such I speak in this moment with you - lyrical and goes easily into an incoherent profligacy. What you have talent for one, think me and several people I've talked to about you, comic tales in prose. - My husband has read your little hexameter verse, but he says it's not real hexameters. For everything, dear Andersen, flattery you not to become a Oehlenschläger, a Walter Scott, a Shakespeare, a Goethe, a Schiller, and ask no more, which of these they will serve you for this - for they are none of them! - And this too daring thought and vain pursuits could easily destroy any other Good, healthy, vigorous plant that was dismantled with you, to be helpful and honest to yourself and your fellow man. - They may not find good Andersen that I have been too severe in my judgements and ruthless in how to communicate them, but we have so often spoken of you with more of your friends that the unfortunate notion that you had about poetry, hurt you much, but nobody would tell you. After receiving your last letter, I decided to do it, considered it my duty. - That it goes so well with you in the new class, pleases me and all of us heartily. Find you with patience and gratitude in the small difficulties that may be received, - by such leading many lives with her. Also make sure your health, Good Andersen; I do not like that you sit up too late at night, and I would quite like when we have the pleasure to see you for Christmas that you then had become a little fat, saw a little briskly out and was quite contentedly. - The third part of Oehlenschläger has not come out yet, but when it comes, but when it comes, it will be sent to you, as well as the novel. - Rest assured that the good Lord will not leave you, his roads led people to you who will direct you to skills that will develop and create your abilities and make you an active and happy member of the noble society, and then will your talent here and there sprinkle small flowers on you and your surroundings roads. - Let us again soon hear from you, good Christian Andersen! We welcome you all right heartily, and our best wishes follow you forever. / Henriette Wulff. (9)

 

The essential of Mrs. Wulff's letter is not really that she believed that Andersen's ambitions to become a big, yes, one of the greatest poets, was unrealistic, misguided and presumptuous, because it took the good lady indeed totally wrong, but it is however, that for her letter more or less directly evident that Andersen was impatient and not fast enough to get to take his - his own and, indeed, a recent opinion - God-given and well-deserved place in the international poet Parnassus. It was the later the fact that the name H.C. Andersen in its field might well compare with the poetic names, Mrs. Wulff mentions in her letter, namely Oehlenschlaeger, Walter Scott, Shakespeare, Goethe and Schiller.


But Andersen’s after the well-meaning and intelligent, but bourgeois Mrs. Wulff believes presumptuous obstinacy, she could not put up with, so she repeated exhortations in several of her following letters.
She tried to educate him also of his appearance and manner to behave at all in the best sense, and - of course in vain. It appears that both of her letters to him and partly by his letters to her, but probably as much in an adventure as "The Ugly Duckling" (1844), in which he has portrayed Mrs. Wulff in the guise of hen who together with the cat - an image of Edvard Collin - feel themselves as significant people in the old woman, whose house they live in.


It should be added that Andersen's good and almost life-long friend, Edvard Collin, had no particularly good understanding of Andersen’s mental naturel, nor of his importance as a poet. But it was not everyone in Edvard’s own family, who shared his view of Andersen. It focused on the feudal  nobility Countess Jonna Stampe, born Drewsen, who as the eldest child of Ingeborg Drewsen, born Collin, Andersen had known from her birth in 1827. Based on his reading of her uncle's manuscript of the book "H.C. Andersen and the Collin's house "(1882), Jonna Stampe felt it necessary to include in its bold comments in a letter dated March 1878, not long before her own death due to illness, to make the following urgent words about Andersen:


You are certainly right that I follow with interest your work on ANDERSEN; it is me just concerned that people should get to know him from his human side, his heart conditions, his friendship with the Collin family. I therefore think so very well about the beginning, the Meisling letters about grandfather's appearance and personality of ANDERSEN, as it turned out that in an almost Dickensian touching way. also letters to you how the exacting, irritable yet loving side with him so strongly up and finally letters to Louise. Such insight into Andersen's childhood and adolescence can only you give.


But when I was not so fully satisfied with the marginal notes to his life story, it lies in the fact that I do not think you see with enough distance on the temporal trends, or at least not feel something of what I feel about ANDERSEN.
I feel the fact that he really was a swan and a time was regarded as an ugly duckling. He felt wings grow without being able to make themselves ready for this emotional partial justification to give others that feeling. For him, all discipline and all the reprimand war only inhibitor; he felt unfairness but not justification. Therefore he panted beneath all language correction and to weigh the same weight as others. I think that even if you have belonged to yon time position here in Denmark, even though it has retained his fondness for it, so you will now, however, not be blind to the fact that it was somewhat narrow-minded and pedantic, where form played a more major role than necessary and that those who could not follow this direction, light came to stand outside and thus be wronged. Society could then be no different as it could not be ahead of its time, so it should not be criticized for it, but it must be borne in mind, I think, in assessing ANDERSEN. He belonged in my opinion to the 4 major prophets, but was hardly rank among the 12 small, and therefore had to groan under a yardstick, he could not match. This, I think, was his first contemporaries  unconscious guilt against him. His guilt was against it, to demand recognition as a swan before he had it and that was he first since he wrote his fairy tales. Then he had another fault like this unconsciously, his imagination unreliability in terms of people's relationship with him. You call it hyperexcitability, but I have known people with this kind of nature, I feel assured that it is an insanity in their imagination that gets this to really believe what really has not happened. They suffer just as much under these fancies as under real abuses, and go to their grave, insure that their perception is true. This error has ANDERSEN prepared himself and other great anguish, and yet I consider him insane therein. (10)

 

A little later in the letter Jonna Stampe continues to write the following:

 
[...]
But so great is my interest in what you publish, I have taken upon me to dictate this. I seemed that it might do good to Andersen's memorial, there was granted him an understanding that he would miss in his own time, but no one could give him better than one that has stood him as near as you - the concession namely, that Andersen's first contemporary was too narrow to fully understand him and that his irritability was not alone in a morbid state of mind, but also was justified by the circumstances. It was this tone of sympathy, which I missed in one small section, which has brought me to express my opinion. [...] (11)


Truly a loving and understanding woman's words about a friend who is in a good many years had been her and her family very close, a woman who also had a passion for him in her youth and he for a transition also had been a little in love with her.

 

The tale of "The Fir-Tree" seen in the third level of interpretation

The third interpretive plan is as familiar in an interpretation or translation of the biographical or autobiographical elements in the literary text, in this case, the tale of "The Fir-Tree". Here, as already mentioned, immediately determined that Andersen rewriting itself as a fir-tree and its life history as his own life story, from his early childhood, and to around 1844, when the tale was written and printed. He had at that time and already the year before retold his life story in the interim delightful fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling", but this adventure ended optimistic that it disliked and scolded Ugly Duckling came to honor and dignity as a beautiful swan. The then widely traveled Andersen was at one of the heights in his writing career, but had to turn personal problems and with his personal life, especially in the love life area. Moreover, during his trips abroad with their new cultural and revolutionary political movements, especially in Germany and France, currents since at least July Revolution in France in 1830 pointed in the opposite direction to that which the romantic movement stood and had stood for. It was the effects of some of the Enlightenment period’s more realistic thoughts and ideas of free expression and freedom of action, which was still greater influence, at least in certain circles of society. Simultaneously did science experience substantiated new discoveries a still stronger force in life-and world-view, at the expense of the religious and idealistic approach to life. All of which meant that materialism and atheism got wind in its sails.


Personally, Andersen was torn in his relationship with the new cultural trends, as he on one side not only accepted and recognized, but actually fundamental was excited to science and technology progress, simultaneously with, the growing materialism and atheism, as these advances inevitably led, certainly not liking him.
A large part of his life and a significant part of his writing came later to be about a personal showdown with the attitudes, thoughts and ideas which gave rise to a materialistic and atheistic life and worldview. But mind you, when his mind was in the optimistic life rent, for in his life pessimistic moments, he felt compelled to accept and admit the materialistic life and world view of a dominant position on the "Parnassus". It happened in such moments that the biblical skilled writer reread Ecclesiastes, whose wisdom he cherished and loved for very suggestive, after all, that the preacher was right in his view of the world's transience and impermanence. This reading, in conjunction with the new Cultural trends in Europe, resulted in Andersen in writing of such an adventure or tale as "The Fir-Tree".

 

But in addition to life's transience and impermanence, is the tale of "The Fir-Tree" also about Andersen's personal ambition to become something big, and his impatience and dissatisfaction that it could not go fast enough. This ambition to accomplish something significant, Andersen came right from childhood, and indeed most of the rest of his life. But as stated ambition began already in his childhood which he among other things, expresses the following lines in the tale:


"Oh, was I such a big tree, like the others," sighed the little tree. "I could spread my branches far around, and with the top look out into the wide world! Birds building nests on my boughs, and when the wind blew I could nod so proud, like the others! "(12)


By t
he term "others" think Andersen probably on contemporary great poets, as he had done in the tale "The Ugly Duckling" (1843), where the swan baby wants and longs that it could fly with the beautiful adult swans with the large wing span, which flew away from those cold regions to warmer countries and major lakes. Andersen characterised, incidentally himself as a migratory bird, more specifically in the shape of a stork, partly because it flew away to warmer climes in the northern winter, and partly because of his long legs and other appearance was reminiscent of his own stature.


Andersen had in his younger days when he still was not as recognized and famous, as he later became, in a hurry to be considered and accepted as the other major Danish poets in the Danish literary Parnassus. It was especially poets like Adam Oehlenschlaeger Henrik Hertz and Johan Ludvig Heiberg, he measured up to, and especially he thought that he deserved to be treated at least equal footing with a poet like Hertz.

 

About his impatient desires, Andersen among others also wrote in a letter dated  March 9, 1838 to his friend Frederik Læssøe in which he makes a sort of stock of his past life and writings, which he was not entirely happy with. From the letter, the following is quoted here:


[...] Yet have I brought it to get a name, even outside my homeland shadow of this, but I am still just as poor as helpless as when I with my bundle in his hand walked through the West Gate and less happy, for then I had the soul full of beautiful dreams, now contrast with the reality of a recognition that shows me what I need, and it is almost impossible to win it! Oh, I could be in this world, raising the spiritual treasure, I feel immersed in my breast! Never has there been such ferment in my soul as in the last year and I think it must be seen in my last novel, "Only a Fiddler": work with the previous two, I was quite quiet different! Many say the "Improviser", it shows the most maturity, the other two novels must surely be one of maturity: I will rather believe that "Improviser” is a spiritual maturity flower, the others are the fruit, but only have shaped itself; [...] (13)


His dissatisfaction and impatience with himself, Andersen also expressed in a letter dated  April 1, 1838 to his friend Jette Hanck in Odense, where the following lines to be quoted here:


[...] You do not know what battle is in my soul, I often despair about all my strength, nothing seems to have done or could do, other times I see my name among the living names, oh, this last is shown even disappointment, as always my heart's best feeling has been. [...] (14)


But the rest was the adult Andersen's impatience with himself and his artistic ambitions is not something new in his life and writing career, for it had already appeared in his earliest literary works, however, it would lead too far to get into here. But as an example the travel account "Shadow Pictures" (1831), in which Andersen once again took advantage of impatience and dissatisfaction subject and especially on the subject of impermanence of all things. The latter is partly done in the following passage:

 

     The area around was me doubly beautiful by his legend, there was also life and movement on this road, we met charcoal burners with dark, distinctive faces, and peasants girls who looked like milk and blood. The river Selke rushed past chattering; told the show, what we saw: it's all very good.

     Soon heard the din of the numerous shops, we ascended to the strange Iron obelisk as Duke 1812 here has raised up over his dead father: it is entirely of iron, and should be the highest in Germany. We wrote our names on it in pencil, like so many others had done.

     "To become immortal," it is a thought which, even at the most childish, lit up from the poor human breast!

     Soon, rain and snow wipe out this pencil immortality, and a new genus will write their names in place of the obelisk will also be obliterated by time. Thus, we seek also the journey of life, to write our name on the world's great obelisk, where one name is overridden by another, this large stone tablet itself is in ruins. God knows what name will stand as the last? Probably the master builder who raised it to his own honor and heal beautification. (15)


Motif with the restless impatience and impermanence of all things is even stronger argued in Andersen's verse drama "Agnete and the Merman" (1833), in which he himself appears in the guise of musician Hemming, who loves Agnes, but his love is not reciprocated. Agnes preferred the Merman, with whom she was married and had several children.
Her and Hemmings parted ways and only after fifty years later they meet again, both naturally aged, so that they do not immediately recognize each other. Agnes - which can be interpreted both as RiborgVoigt and Louise Collins and as Andersen's own feminine aspect - had since regretted his past choices and left his wife while Hemming - as Andersen himself - had remained unmarried. The meeting between Agnes and Hemming takes place on a deserted beach and ends with Hemming rejects Agnes, which occurs in the following dialogue in verse:

 

Where have you been, however, the long time?

Your youth look scares me. Woe to you! woe!

Death is your mother died your entire family,

I am an old man near my grave.

A g n e t e, is what gave the rich merman

you for your salvation? - - I fear you!

A g n e t e, I can not see your face!

O read your "Our Father" if you can!

Alas, no! you can not belong to us and Jesus! (16)


The deeper thought behind the action in verse drama "Agnete and the Merman," is that the sea and the Merman's respectively symbolizing nature and natural religion, as traditional Christianity especially then considered as heathen. That's why Hemming, who in the meantime has been reversed, rejecting Agnes. In his younger days, Andersen was distinctly rationalist in religious matters, but over time he changed to some extent, perception and professed a more pietistic form of Christianity. In real life, it was actually the women - and men for that matter - that Andersen was in love with who rejected him, but in his literature, he could turn things upside down, if it suited him.

 

However seeks out Agnes his true mate, the Merman, again, and this asks her pleas to return to him and the children. But when Agnes will plunge into the waves, she falls dead on the seashore. Some time later Hemming sits under a tree in the forest's outskirts, while he hums to himself and think of Agnes. Meanwhile, the squire, Peter Palle and his hunters, who have not had luck with the day's hunt, reached the spot. The lord has bet his pack of dogs with his future bride, Miss Bodil, who is both a good rider and a good shot, which of the two who could possibly shoot the biggest bird in the woods. But while he and his hunters have spotted Hemming, orders lord for fun this up in the tree, aims and shoots - and hits the poor musician in the heart, so that he falls down dead. Mens man breakaway as:


So strong was not meant! But done is done.

It was only a pawn! Now tag him with!

A bird that he has hardly taken Bodil. (17)


In beginning of the fairy tale Andersen says indirectly about his childhood in Odense, where he kept more of indoor games and pursuits such as playing with his little puppet show and hear his father tell stories or even read books. It was not something for the others and more spirited boys, who came from more violent games and teasing by peers, not least by the odd or peculiar Hans Christian. They considered him to be a "sissy" who would rather be at home during her mother's skirts, yes, so that even she thought that her dear son exhibited some behavioural traits, which could indicate that perhaps he was what a later time described as gay. It was supported by the fact that as a boy he preferred to play with little girls because he felt more equal footing with those than with boys. But the not so wild boys and girls was in season is captured by the quieter pursuits like gathering strawberries or raspberries and chatting pleasantly together while:

 

[...] But the little fir-tree was so feisty to grow, it was not thinking about the warm sun and fresh air, it did not like the peasant children walked and chatted, when they were out to pick strawberries or raspberries; Sometimes the children with a large basket of raspberries or strawberries, wreathed on a straw, so they sat at the little tree and said: "No! where it is pretty small," The tree would not hear. (18)


Like most other children the same age, the boy Hans Christian was of course also in school, but he admired and envied those comrades who were in the higher classes, or even in grammar school, from where they graduated and were now continuing their further life. The new-found freedom was of course celebrated with feasting and joy, which Andersen is in the following way in the story of "The Fir-Tree":


In the autumn wood-cutter came and felled some of the largest trees, it happened every year, and the young fir-tree, now ball pretty well grown, trembled so, for the noble trees fell with a creak and clatter to the ground, the branches were hewn from, they looked quite naked, long and narrow out, they were almost unrecognisable, but then they were put on wagons and horses dragged them away.

     Where were they going? What would become of them?

     In spring, when the swallows and the storks came, the tree asked them: "Do not know where they were taken? Did you meet them?

     The swallows knew nothing, but the stork a little reflection, nodded his head and said: "Yes, I believe it! I met many new ships as I flew from Egypt, and the ships were magnificent masts trees, I dare say that it was them, they smelled of pine, I can greet many times the towers, the towers! "

     "Oh, I wish I were big enough to fly over the ocean! How is it that sea and what it looks like? "

     "Yes, it would take too much to explain," said the stork, and so it went.

     "Rejoice in thy youth," said the Sunbeams, "rejoice in thy fresh growth, and the young life that is in you!"

     And the wind kissed the tree, and the dew wept tears over it, but that did the fir-tree not understand. (19)

 

No, the young Andersen could not enjoy all these things fully, for he was permanently occupied by striving for recognition and fame as an actor or poet. And as such interim mentioned and treated as peers or younger poets in the same situation. It is probably this that lies behind the following piece of text in the tale:


    
When it was around Christmas, when quite young trees were felled, trees which often were not even as large as or younger than the fir-tree, which had neither resting nor peace, but would always go, these young trees, and they were chosen for their Beauty, kept their branches, they were put on wagons and horses dragged them away out of the woods.

     "Where were they?" asked the fir-tree. "They are not bigger than I am, indeed, one that was much less, why they kept all their branches? Where were they going? "

     "That told us! we do know," chirped the sparrows. "We have been down in the city looked in through the windows! We know where they go! Oh, they come to the most splendid likely! We have looked into the windows and seen them being planted in the middle of the warm room and ornamented with the most wonderful things, both gilded apples, gingerbread, toys and many hundred lights! "

     "And then -?" asked the fir-tree, trembling in every bough. "And then? What happens then? "

     "Yes, the more we have not seen! It was marvellous! "(20)

 

In the time of Hans Christian Andersen it was the custom to decorate the Christmas tree with edible things like apples, honey cakes and big nuts, and also hanged children's toys and gifts for the adults of the wood itself, and not, as it later became a tradition that presents and toys were placed at the foot of the tree. It stood for Andersen as the finest in life to be like a Christmas tree, adorned with all good and festive and "eatable", that is, become a poet or a writer who could give his readers some good and festive and nutrient rich literary experiences that could cause the eyes to beam with joy over it told. This succeeded as also for the young Andersen to achieve later, with his first poems, stories, plays, novels and fairy tales, which was largely praised by critics and well received by audiences. But before it had come so far, he had to continue to acquire knowledge and education and find his own personal legs to stand on. But the longing and impatience to achieve all this, and after entering the poetry’s "warm room", yes, and beyond it, pursued him constantly. But he seemed personally to stagnate as it dragged on to reach as far as he strove for, the implication is clear from the following location in the tale:


    
"I wonder if I have to go to this brilliant way!" Cheered the tree. "It's even better than going over the sea! How I suffer from longing! However, it was Christmas! now I'm high and wide, like the others who were taken away last year! - Oh, I was on the wagon! I wish I were in a warm room with all the splendor and glory! and then -? Well, then comes something even better, more beautiful, why else would they dress up as me! there must be something even bigger, even grander -! but what? Oh, I suffer! I yearn! I do not know how it is with me. "

     "Rejoice with me," said air and sunlight! "Rejoice in thy fresh youth of the Free!"

     But it welcomed nothing! it grew and grew, winter and summer, the green, dark green it was, people who saw it said: "It is a beautiful tree!" and at Christmas it was felled first of all. The ax cut through the pith, the tree fell with a groan to the earth, conscious of pain and powerlessness, it could not think of any luck, it was sad at leaving home, from the spot where it was shot up; it showed in fact that it never again see its dear comrades, the little bushes and flowers around it, perhaps not even the birds. The departure was not pleasant.

     The tree came to itself, when it in the yard, unwrapped with the other trees, heard a man say: "It is magnificent! We do not use without it! "(21)

 

It was the pain of having to say goodbye to childhood town and his childhood home when he was 14 years old in September 1819 left both for the first time and on his own went to the relatively long trip to the big city of Copenhagen. Even then went traveling life to him in blood, which he years later expressed in and with the motto, framed in the poem: "It is life to travel" (1842), just as he pointed out that traveling was the best school for him. But he would later make many and long travels abroad. So far he was approching years of schooling in Slagelse and Elsinore grammar Schools 1822-27, with tutoring in Copenhagen 1828 and second baccalaureate exam in 1829, both at Copenhagen University. Andersen graduated with first character and could after second exam call themselves Master. Phil., a title he was so happy at that he got it put on its nameplate. The prospect of a bright future accounted horizon. But before it had come, was Andersen in 1825 invited to spend Christmas with the family Wulff at Naval Cadet School at Royal Palace, where they had a Christmas ball, which was held on the day before Christmas Eve. But after standing invitation he spent as usual Christmas Eve with the dear family Oersted (Ørsted). That is why all was of utter joy and bliss to him, and it is probably all that Andersen indirectly expressed in and with the following passages in the story of "The Fir-Tree":

 

Then came two servants in livery, and carried the fir-tree into a big, Beautiful apartment. All around the walls hung portraits, and by the great stove stood large Chinese vases with lions on the lid, there were rocking chairs, silken sofas, large tables full of picture Books and toys for one hundred times one hundred dollars - at least the children said so. And the pine tree was hoisted up in a large tub filled with sand, but no one could see that it was a quarter, for there was hung green clothes around, and it stood on a large, handsome carpet. Oh, how the tree trembled! What was going to happen? Both waiters and damsels went and decorated it. On one branch they hung little nets cut out of coloured paper, Each net was filled with sweets; gilded apples and walnuts hung as though they were growing fast, and over a hundred red, blue and white small candles was stuck onto the branches. Dolls that looked exactly like real people - the Tree had never seen such before - hovered in the green, and at the very top of the top was put a big star of tinsel-gold, it was magnificent, very Beautiful!.
     "Tonight," they all said, "this Evening to the beam!"

     "Oh," thought the Tree, "however, it was tonight! Was the candles just soon lighted, and I wonder what happens then? Will the trees from the forest come and be looking at me? I wonder if sparrows fly at the window? I wonder if I here grows firm and must be dressed winter and summer? "

     Yes, you knew all, but it had decent bark ache and ache bark is as bad for a tree, as headache is for us.

     Now the candles were lighted. What brilliance, what splendour, the tree quivered in all its branches, so that one of the candles burned in the green, the sweat properly.

     "God preserve us!" shrieked the Misses and put out in a hurry.

     Now the tree did not even dare tremble. Oh, it was a horror! It was so afraid of losing something of all his finery, and it was quite dazed at all the glory, - - and now the folding doors were thrown open, and a troop of children rushed in as if they would topple the entire tree, the older people came sober behind their little ones, who stood silent - but only for a moment, so they cheered again as it boomed after, they danced around the tree, and one present after another was picked off. (22)

 

But as usually happens with a Christmas tree, so was its climax on Christmas Day, and once it had been dancing around it and the gifts were handed out, lost interest in the tree. It is also what Andersen describes in the following passage in the story of "The Fir-Tree":


    
"What are they doing?" Thought the tree. "What will happen?" And the candles burned down to the branches and they burned down, they was extinguished and then the children received permission to plunder the tree. Oh, they rushed upon it so that it creaked in all its branches, and had it not glistening star been fastened to the ceiling, so it was thrown down.

     The children danced about with their pretty toys, no one looked at the tree outside the old Nanny, who came and peeped among the branches, but it was just to see if there were not forgotten even a fig or an apple. (23)


This situation was also what Andersen himself came out to experience, for all the hype and buzz that took place after his real debut as a writer with "Walking Tour" and the vaudeville "Love in Nicolai Tower", both 1829, and who were both nice successes did not last. There followed an - albeit temporary - slowdown in interest in his literary products, followed by various personal problems, he understandably felt so dismal that it provoked the unpleasant feeling of pessimism in his life. It hung presumably also with the fact that some of his critics and audiences would much rather hear and read simple and easily understandable stories by other authors, although these, however, after all, could also have something to say that was worth listening to. And there were people in Andersen's entourage, who believed that he could do well to learn from that kind of literature. The situation seems to me that Andersen indirectly described in the following paragraph in the tale:

 

     "A story! a story, "cried the children and pulled a small, fat man towards the tree and he put himself under it," because we are in the green, "he said," and the tree will have the Good pleasure of to hear! but I tell only one story. Will you hear it for Humpty Dumpty, who fell down the stairs and came, however, pride of place and got the princess! "

     "Ivede-Avede!" Cried some, "Humpty Dumpty," cried others, there was a yelling and screaming, only fir-tree remained quite still and thought: 'Shall I do nothing, not do anything!" It had been with and had done what it should do.


     And the man told about "Humpty Dumpty who fell down the stairs and came, however, in focus and married a princess." And the children clapped their hands and shouted: "Tell! tell," they would also have "Ivede-Avede" but only got the "Humpty Dumpty". The Fir-Tree stood quite silent and thoughtful, never had the birds in the forest told such tales. "Humpty Dumpty" fell down the stairs, and yet got the princess! “Yes, yes, that is the way in the world," thought the Fir-Tree and thought it was real because it was such a nice man who told. "Well, who knows! Maybe I fall down too, and marry a princess!" And it looked forward to the next day to be decked out with lights and toys, gold and fruits.

     "Tomorrow I will not tremble," thought he. "I will enjoy myself in all my Glory. Tomorrow I shall again hear the story of "Humpty Dumpty" and perhaps it on "Ivede-Avede". And the tree stood silent and thoughtful all night. (24)


But it was to come out different for both the tree and H.C. Andersen, because after he had begun to tell fairytales, the first four were published in May 1835, meant the literary criticism that he instead of wasting his talent at the minor child chamber poetry ought to use it to write more serious literature, which he e.g. had done with his first novel, "Improviser", which was released in April 1835. The criticism took Andersen obviously near and decided to take a break from the writing of fairytales.

 

In the morning came groom and maid.


"Now begins finery again," thought the tree, but they dragged it out of the room, up the stairs to the attic, and in a dark corner where no daylight shone, and they left him. "What does that mean," thought the tree. "What can I do here? What am I here to get to hear? " And leaning against the wall and stood and thought and thought. - - And the Good time had it, for there were days and nights, none came up here and when there finally got someone, so it was to put away large boxes in a corner, the tree was completely hidden, you'd think that it was completely forgotten. (25)


But Andersen could not be in the long run not to write fairy tales, in the beginning adventure for children, because these occurred to him relatively easy to write, and there was also a fairly large audience for this genre. Not least because the fairy-tales usually appeared around Christmas and therefore could be used for Christmas gifts, either to read aloud for a little less children, or as independent reading material for older children, who himself could read, and also for adults who himself liked to read adventure. It becomes in the story of "The Fir-Tree" to the little mice come to visit the fir-tree on the attic, and the tree says the mice its own story about where it comes from and what it has experienced, especially the festive Christmas Eve:

 

     "How you tell nice," said the little mice, and the next Night they came with four other little mice, who would hear the tree tell story, and the more it talked, the more clearly remembered it everything too, and thought: "It was very funny times! but they do come, they can come! Humpty Dumpty fell downstairs, and yet married a princess, maybe I can get a princess," and thought the tree in such a small, neatly birch that grew in the woods, it was the fir-tree a real Beautiful princess.

     "Who is Humpty Dumpty?" Asked the little mice. And then the tree related the whole story, it could remember every word, and the little mouse was ready to jump up into the top of the tree just for pleasure. Next Night came a great many more mice, and on Sunday two rats, but they said that the story was not funny, and that did sadden the little mice, for now they seemed even less about it.

     "Can you just one story," said the rats.

     "Only one," replied the tree, "I heard it on my happiest Evening, but at the time I did not think of how Happy I was!"

     "It's an extremely bad history! They can not with bacon and tallow candles? None larder-stories? "

     "No," replied the tree.

     "Yeah, so, thank you!” rats responded and went to theirs.

     The little mice were also kept away, and the tree sighed: "It was very pleasant, as they sat around me the merry little mice and heard what I said! Now that is over! - But I should consider myself Happy when I now take up again! "(26)


The term "larder-stories", aims Andersen is probably the so-called "everyday stories," as he did consider for earthbound and embarrassed, and he certainly need not even think to write, even if they had a relatively large audience. Andersen therefore continued cheerfully along his own and self-created author field, to write poems, plays, novels and fairy tales, but especially some of his plays he did not have great luck with, partly because they were criticized heavily by the theatre censors, and partly because there was great difficulty in getting them built. And to get these built, were quite important to him because he was addicted to the revenue that the pieces could bring. These problems were also problems of a personal nature, such as a temporary controversy with Captain Wulff, who was due to a misunderstanding on his part, but that meant that the commander is no longer wanted to see Andersen's visit with him and his family. Andersen had over the years you would have produced regularly, yes, occasionally, daily, with the family, where he was especially close friend of her daughter Jette Wulff and her youngest brother, Christian Wulff. This was particularly the two who really appreciated Andersen and also assessed his writings aloud. Afterward came also a rather protracted dispute between Andersen and Edvard Collin, who otherwise was particularly good friends, like Andersen felt like a member of the family whose head, Jonas Collin, had been Andersen's guardian and support in his schooldays in Slagelse and Elsinore, and also in many ways later helped Andersen emerged as a writer. Andersen was also frequently and at times daily in the Collin home in Broad Street (Bredgade), but there was at one time problems, as Andersen here saw one of his unhappy, which means unrequited dual infatuations, namely Edward and his younger sister, Louise. The situation was probably worse off than the touchy Andersen, which at times was deeply depressed about the situation, which however only clarified when the paternal Collin intervened and got re-established the good relationship between Andersen and family. Anyway, so left it all Christian Andersen with the feeling that he had been 'discarded'. (27)

 

One of the things just mentioned are probably behind the pessimistic life adventure "The Fir-Tree" where, at once touching and sad ending sounds like after it finally one day had been brought down from the dark corner of the attic:


"Now life is beginning again," thought the tree, it felt the fresh air, the first sunbeam - and now it was in the yard. Everything went so quickly, that it forgot to look at themselves, there was that much to see around it. The farm adjoined a garden, where everything looked blooming roses hung fresh and fragrant over the little railing, linden trees flourished, and the swallows flew around and said: "tweet-tweet-wit, my husband is come!" But it was tree, they thought.

     "Now I shall live," cheered it and spread its branches far out, alas, they were all withered and yellow, it was in the corner amongst weeds and nettles that it was. The golden paper star is still stuck in the top and glittered in the brightest sunshine.

     In the yard were playing a couple of the merry children at Christmas had danced around the tree and was so excited about it. One of the smallest rushed and snatched gold star from.

    "Look what is sticking up the ugly old Christmas tree," he said and stomped on the branches till they crackled under his boots.

     And the tree saw all the floral splendour and freshness in the garden, and looked at himself, and wished that it had been in the dark corner of the ceiling, the thought of its fresh youth in the woods, on the merry Christmas Eve and on the little mice who had listened to the story of Humpty Dumpty.

     "All over! All over, "said the old tree. "Had I but rejoiced when I could! past! past! "

     And then the groom came and chopped the tree into small pieces, a whole bundle lay there; nice flared up during the big brewer boiler, and it sighed so deeply that each sigh was like a little shot; Then the children who play, came and sat front of the fire, looked into it and shouted: "Pif! Pop," but at every bang, there was a deep sigh, thought the tree on a summer day in the woods one winter night there, when the stars shone; the thought of Christmas Eve and Humpty-Dumpty, the only story it had heard and knew to tell - and then the tree was burned out.

     The boys were playing in the yard and the youngest wore the gold star on his chest, as the tree had borne its happiest evening; now it was over, and the tree was over and the story with: past, past, and it becomes all the stories! (28)


Andersen had often thought about his own youth, indeed, had already in 1832 started a little longer autobiography, later known under the title "The Biography". This he wrote, especially under the impression of his unhappy double love for Riborg and Christian Voigt and partly also an incipient double love for Louise and Edvard Collin. But Andersen was no Humpty Dumpty, who ended up getting his princess in the physical life, his ambitions, hopes and dreams of becoming something big, continued. Like the little boy who had taken the gold star and fastened it at the heart space on its jacket, the star, who had been a fir-tree's pride, it was this star in some ways a symbol of the soul, whose immortality and eternal life, Andersen behind his life pessimism had always believed and felt confident. (29)


It must also be mentioned here that Andersen's own life was not passed at the time when he wrote the story of "The Fir-Tree", on the contrary he got and still had many creative years working in, years during which he created numerous poems, several novels and plays and not least a string of fairy tales and stories that not only were for the children, but probably as much for adults. But the past was, after all, anyway, because it is the nature of all the perishable to end and be over, but also to come again as the sun every evening goes down in the west and every morning again rises in the east. That fairy tale or history, Andersen told about in many of his other life-optimistic fairy tales, even life-pessimism never quite left him.

 

The tale of "The Fir-Tree" seen in the fourth level of interpretation

The big question now is whether the tale ”The Fir-Tree” meets any of the conditions set out in this thesis, that it could be called a cosmic fairytale? This requires of course a greater or lesser levels of so-called cosmic ideas, thoughts and ideas, which means life, such as this looks, from a cosmic perspective forever. The ideas, thoughts and notions need not necessarily be the author's own, but also from his contact with the so-called gold copies of the site of the divine consciousness, Martinus describes as “The ocean of Wisdom” ("visdomsoceanet"). One of the conditions that you can get inspiring contact with the said reservoir of conclusive results, it is that strength of mind that feeling and intelligence, is in perfect balance with each other, implying a relatively high moral standard in the individual. This balance is one of the prerequisites for, that the negative influence of gravity energy on consciousness can be hamstrung and, secondly, that intuition ability to take optimal function because it is the latter ability, that so to speak, is the Channel to The ocean of wisdom.  That mental balance need not necessarily be permanent, but may well occur instantaneously, whereby such an author could find inspirations that give glimpses access to wisdom's conclusive results.


The question now is whether one can say that Andersen's mind was in balance when he got the idea and wrote the story of "The Fir-Tree"? - As far as I can judge, having put me into Andersen's personal situation around the time when he wrote the story, he was badly affected by the Cultural trends toward a growing materialism and atheism, which as previously mentioned, really began to emerge in Europe and Denmark after the 1830th. But while he was even reached a point in his life and his career as a writer, where he had acknowledged and realized his own deplorable weakness in the form of incessant striving forward, who rarely had left him in peace and who also had led many unpleasant experiences and situations with them. But on the other hand, it was precisely his quest to become a still better writer, especially because he felt and believed that from God's hand had been imposed on him a special task, which meant that he was and had to exert his abilities to the utmost, in order to complete the task in the best way. In that he had, among other things written in a letter dated May 15, 1838 to his friend Jette Hanck in Odense, where the following should be cited here:

 

[...] - I study at this time the older and younger Fichte, in philosophy, I find the tastiest berries, while most poet forests only gives me the leaves and flowers. I'm looking for a poem, suitable for my age and educational for my spirit, an ideal image seem to remember, but the outlines are so shapeless that I can not clarify it. Every great poet are giving me a part, but no more, of this huge body. Our age has not yet found its poet! but when do he appears? And where? He must portray nature as Washington Irving do, grasp the era, as Walter Scott could sing, like Byron, and still be blown of our time, as Heine. Oh, how I wonder if this poetry Messiah be born? Happy is he who dared to be his John. I wish I could burn and forever destroy over half of which inner and outer necessity let me publish, then I was happy. A couple of my poems should stand, some of the tales, "Improviser" and "the Fiddler" and the Nobleman and Lemvig-life in the "OT", although it is the only thing that sticks. My life’s event is even poetry, it will always have the same interest as my best work, but it do not belong to myself. [...] [...] I was born a writer, I feel, and I am conscious of how everything comes into my life as poetry, and yet - I want more! Quantity of material is missing me, often I am overwhelmed by ideas, but I yet do not raise these to my ideal; [...] (30)


From the above quotation shows that Andersen at the time referred to did not feel ready or qualified to write a larger, mature and modern literary work that could match his lofty ambitions, and that he therefore hoped and wished that there would appear a poet or writer who could cope with the task. This did not mean he gave up the ambition even to compose a work - possibly several works - which would make it justified to describe him as a literary "John" who, like John the Baptist prepared the way for the next master. As readers of this website will know, I take it in my own mind well-founded perception that the intuitive thinker and sage Martinus (1890-1981) and his life's work to fully meet the demands and expectations that Andersen asked to "Poetry's Messiah" and in an other connexion called "The New Aladdin."
(31)


 In a letter of about December 22nd, 1838 to Henriette Hanck, Andersen gave a more accurate expression, which reflects what it was, his ambitions as a writer went on:

 

"[...] Understand me right: it is not the empty name I crave, no, I will express what I'm in some holy moments even feel what no one, no one has said even the greatest! there is a holy, sunken treasure in my chest, in the spirit’s midnight hour it can be raised, but yet have failed me, and I despair at the thought that it never happens. [...] The very closest to me is cold, unsympathetic, Hertz and Heiberg one believes me almost not worthy to loose shoe on. ". Oh I get too vain by this misrepresentation. I feel God in me! - (32)


At the time this is about, namely December 1838, Andersen could not so well know that it would not be a single or a few of his works, but his complete works, which actually came to function as a kind of "John-voice" in the mental desert of materialism and atheism, which at the time was well on track to displace the romantic idealistic and spiritualistic ideas, thoughts and ideas about life and who should get even more wind in its sails over time and up to the present day, where we provisionally write 2011.


But to return to what is the actual task in this section, namely to look at, in which degree and extent to which the story of "The Fir-Tree" meets the conditions and criteria set out in this thesis, that it could be called a cosmic adventure.
This requires of course a greater or lesser levels of so-called cosmic ideas, thoughts and ideas, which means life from a cosmic perspective of eternity, such as Martinus define this within the framework of his cosmology. (33)

 

It should probably be immediately confirmed that the story of "The Fir-Tree" actually contains ideas, thoughts and conceptions that could be defined or characterised as cosmic. It can not be described as expressions of cosmic insight to state that everything is fleeting and transitory, as it would any normal intelligent self could see with their senses and minds. But there are nonetheless a few glimpses of life optimism in this otherwise very pessimistic tales of life as when for example it reads:


"Rejoice in thy youth," said the Sunbeams, "rejoice in thy fresh growth, and the young life that is in you!", Or a little later: "Rejoice with me," said air and sunlight! "Rejoice in thy fresh youth out into the open" (34)



Sic transit gloria

To pass away the world's glory! For the general idea in the story of  "The Fir-Tree" is that everything in life is essentially fleeting and perishable, and the idea is not consistent with what the cosmic consciousness and cognition predicts an about life. According to Martinus and his cosmic consciousness, it is only seen from a so-called low psychic sensory horizon, which means a sense of horizon, which mainly uses only intelligence capability is only able to see and record everything as an expression of goals, weight and velocity that everything in life, therefore, is fleeting and transitory, that according to laws of circulatory and contrast principle. It expresses Andersen to finish the story of "The Fir-Tree" as follows:


    
And the tree saw all the floral splendour and freshness in the garden, and looked at himself, and wished that it had been in the dark corner of the ceiling, the thought of its fresh youth in the woods, on the merry Christmas Eve and on the little mice who had listened to the story of Humpty-Dumpty.

     "All over! All over, "said the old tree. "I wish I had enjoyed myself as I could! past! past! "

     And the groom came and chopped the tree into small pieces, a whole bundle lay there; nice flared up during the big brewer boiler, and it sighed so deeply that each sigh was like a little shot; Then the children who play, came and sat in front of the fire, looked into it and shouted: "Pif! Pop," but at every bang, there was a deep sigh, thought the tree on a summer day in the woods one winter night there, when the stars shone; the thought of Christmas Eve and Humpty-Dumpty, the only story it had heard and knew to tell - and then the tree was burned out.

     The boys were playing in the yard and the youngest wore the gold star on his chest, as the tree had borne its happiest Evening; now it was over, and the tree was over and the story with: past, past, and it becomes all the stories! (35)


    
The life-pessimism that Andersen expressed in the story of "The Fir-Tree," left him never really completely, which inter alia, in his much later and more serious adventure: “The Wind Tells about Valdemar Daae and His Daughters” (1859), whose motto or chorus sounds this way: "Hu-u-out! rush away? ". Here, Andersen is again using inspiration from Ecclesiastes. It is also true 10 years later, in the Beautiful, but life-pessimistic poem "Comes never again” (1869):


Everything rushes as wind,

here is not abiding place.

Soon fades the rose on the cheek,

the smile and - tears too.


Why be sorrowful?

Sorrow and mischief rushes away;  

Everything rushes away as leaves,

the time and man too!

  
Everything is vanishing – vanishing, 

youth, your hope and your friend.

Everything rushes like wind

and comes never again! (36)


But seen from a so-called high-psychic sensory horizon where everything is experienced and acknowledged as expressions of living beings existence and activity fades the idea of everythings transience and impermanence itself, in favor of an experience and awareness that everything and everyone on the contrary is basically eternally existent. Namely, by virtue of the living beings eternal basic structure and basic nature, which in turn reflects the eternal triune principles such as these so ingeniously is put forward in Martinus' cosmic analysis.


However, the Rays this finding obviously does not know that there are "The Fir-Tree" as a very beautiful and poetic tale of a living being's life as a life from childhood to old age and death. In some of his other adventures, such as the fairy tale "The Flax," Andersen demonstrates the contrary, that in his life optimistic moments thought and was convinced that the living creatures, humans naturally inclusive, are eternal participants in the large and grand adventure of eternal life.



© August 2011. September 2011 translated into English by  Harry Rasmussen.



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Notes and sources:


Re. abbreviations, see Abbreviations - the in the articles used abbreviations of titles, names etc..


 
1  Dal & Nielsen II, p. 41-48. - Re. Andersen's perception of transience, see also the article “Thoughts about a waste paper - about Hans Christian Andersen's first book, "Youth Studies"” (1822).

 2  Dal & Nielsen II, pp. 49-79. - See if any. also the articles "The cosmic death" - or "cosmic unconsciousness" - a prelude to the new article on the fairy tale "The Snow Queen". A story about what Martinus describes as "the sexual pole principle" and "sexual pole transformation", The false perspective - the physical organism as a false centre, and A cosmic fairy tale - the tale "The Snow Queen" (Part 1). - Re. Ecclesiastes. The main message of the book is that everything is a cycle of appearance and transience, thus all human effort is wasted, because man has no influence on the life of God predetermined time. All is vanity of vanities and striving After wind, for whatever one is doing in his life, then the ultimate goal being the tomb.


 3  The word 'incorruptible' means indestructible. Read the poem in chapter 8th of Harry Rasmussen: H. C. Andersen, H. C. Ørsted and Martinus - a comparative study. Publisher Kosmologisk Information, 1997.

 

4        The poem "Heavy Days", which is here reproduced with modern spelling, is quoted from H. C.  Andersen poems. The selection by H.Topsøe-Jensen. Drawings by Ebbe Sadolin. Publisher Spektrum. Copenhagen, 1966. The poem was originally printed in the Illustrated Journal on June 13,1875, ie approx. a few months before Andersen himself died. The poem is also reproduced in the article Contemporary wisdom - about HCA.s vision of science's reductionism.

 

 5  The poem "The Miracle", which is here reproduced with modern spelling, is quoted from H. C. Andersen poems. The selection by H. Topsøe-Jensen. Drawings by Ebbe Sadolin. Publisher Spektrum. Copenhagen, 1966.


 6  For further information, please see. Articles with topics concerning. brain debate.

 

 7  Read the poem in chapter 8th of Harry Rasmussen: H. C. Andersen, Hans Christian Ørsted and Martinus - a comparative study. Publisher Kosmologisk Information 1997 .- Re. concepts of atheism and materialism, see for instance the article Atheism and materialism - the philosophical core problems and Martinus' perception of atheism and materialism.


 8  Dal & Nielsen, pp. 41-48.

 

9        Bille & Bogh: Letters to H. C. Andersen, Letter No. 277, pp. 564-66. - 'Comic tales in prose': Mrs. Wulff here refers probably to the young Andersen's short story "The Apparition at the Grave of Palnatoke " (1822). - 'The third part of Oehlenschläger' and 'novel': it has not been possible for me to find out what it is, Mrs. Wulff think on. But Oehlenschläger was in 1823 since long an established poet, playwright and author.

 

10  A & C, pp. 477-79. - The word 'hamper' must mean 'inhibitions'. - The phrase "the 4 major prophets" should probably be talking about Oehlenschlaeger Ingemann, Hertz and Heiberg, while 12 small must be some kind of contemporary and less talented and not so prominent poets.


11  A & C, p. 480.


12  Dal & Nielsen I, p. 41


13  Bille & Bogh: Letters from H. C. Andersen 1, Letter No. 119, pp. 410-12.

 

14    Bille & Bogh: Letters from H. C. Andersen 1, Letter No. 121, pp. 416-18. - "Even disappointment, as always my heart's best feelings have been." With these words allude Andersen presumably especially to his unrequited and therefore unhappy dual infatuations, including in Riborg Voigt and her brother, Christian, and Louise Collin and - especially - her brother, Edvard. See if any. details in the articles H. C. Andersen - and his sexual orientation. An attempt at an objective assessment, and H. C. Andersen - and his double-infatuations. Introduction.

 

15  Hans Christian Andersen: "Shadow Pictures of a Journey to the Harz mountains, the Saxon Switzerland, etc., etc., in the summer of the 1831. Illustrated by Henrik Bloch. With an Afterword by H. Topsøe-Jensen. Nordlunde Printing House, Copenhagen, 1968. The quotation is from page 94


16   Collected Works XI, p. 541.

17  Collected Works XI, p. 546 - See if any. article, "... a changeling, a very fine child ...". A contribution to the discussion of Hans Christian Andersen's biological ancestry. Anderseniana the 2006. (The article does not involve Martinus' Cosmology, but can still be read on this website). Read also "... a changeling, a very fine child ..." - Additions and corrections 2008. - Read any. also the article The sources for H. C. Andersen's works (part 4) in which the verse drama "Agnete and the The Merman" is mentioned.


18  Dal & Nielsen I, p. 41


19  Dal & Nielsen, p. 42


20  Dal & Nielsen, pp. 42-43.


21  Dal & Nielsen I, p. 43


22  Dal & Nielsen, pp. 43-44. - Quarters: a bucket for waste.


23  Dal & Nielsen I, p. 44 - 'Collar': top.


24  Dal & Nielsen I, p. 45


25  Dal & Nielsen I, p. 45


26  Dal & Nielsen, pp. 46-47.

 

27  'everyday stories': Psychological bourgeois novels and short stories. Such was Thomasine Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd, b. Buntzen (1773-1856) from 1828 well known for. She was first married to writer Peter Andreas Heiberg (1758-18:41), with whom she had a son Johan Ludvig Heiberg (1791-1860), poet and director of the Danish Royal. Theatre 1849-56. - Re. Andersen's relationship to the Wulff family, see for instance. The article H. C. Andersen and families Wulff and Koch. Re. Andersen's relationship to the Collin Family, see e.g. article Andersen's fourth double-infatuation (1) - dual love for Edvard Collin and his sister Louise, and Others following articles.


28  Dal & Nielsen, pp. 47-48.


29  Dal & Nielsen I, p. 48 - Re. Andersen's childhood and adolescence; see. 2nd Main Title: * Hans Christian Andersen's life and repetition from 1805 to 1835.

30  Letter quote is from Andersen's letter of  May 15, 1838 to his friend Henriette Hanck (1807-46). Anderseniana Vol XI, 1943, p. 249 At his friend Frederick Læssøe’s recommendation (see his letters to A. of March 18 and April 1, 1838, Bille & Bogh: Letters to H.C. Andersen, respectively pp. 419-23 and pp. 423-5) read Andersen at the time the philosophical direction that resulted from the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814). In his philosophy reincarnation is included as an essential component, and it reinforced probably Andersen's own perception of same. - Re. concept and the term "Poetry Messiah", see the article "Poetry's Messiah" - about H.C. Andersen’s expectation concerning life poetry’s 'Redeemer'.


31  See the article The poetic universe. – H. C. Andersen and Cosmology 1, and The new Aladdin. – H. C. Andersen and Cosmology II.


32  Anderseniana Volume XI, 1943, pp. 305-08.


33  Re. in this thesis identified 9 criteria for an adventure or fairy tale could be described as cosmic: see the article The four levels of interpretation in H. C. Andersen's authorship, and Cosmology and tales etc..


34  Dal & Nielsen, p. 42 and.43.


35  Dal & Nielsen I, p. 48

36  Re. fairy tale "The Wind Tells …": Dal & Nielsen III, pp. 103-112. - The poem "Comes never again!": "H. C. Andersen poems. The selection by H. Topsøe-Jensen. Drawings by Ebbe Sadolin. Publisher Spektrum, Copenhagen, 1966.



© August 2011. September 2011 translated into English by  Harry Rasmussen.



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